A popular painting tool is a roll-type applicator commonly known as a paint roller. Typically, a paint roller holder having a handle and a rotatably mounted spindle is fitted into a fabric sleeve or cover which is commonly referred to as a paint roller (hereinafter "roller cover" or "paint roller cover"). Paint roller covers, after use with either oil based paint or with latex paint, must be properly cleaned and stored between uses. If one fails to properly clean or store such paint roller covers, they usually cannot be reused and must be discarded, thereby creating additional expense and loss of time, particularly for industrial and commercial painting contractors.
Although it is desirable to properly clean a paint roller cover after each use if it is to be reused, this is often impractical, time consuming and messy, especially for frequent intermittent multiple roller cover interchanging which is often necessary when several crews of professional painters are painting a large building, for example. Typically, a paint roller cover, while laden with paint, is placed in a receptacle, such as a metal paint can or plastic bucket, which is partially filled with a liquid, usually water. Paint roller covers are placed in such a receptacle in a random manner. Paint roller cover crowding in such receptacles causes the paint from one roller cover, by direct contact, to mix with the paint on other roller covers and also may cause crushing and possible distortion of the fabric material on the paint roller covers, thereby resulting in a poor application of paint upon reuse. Normally, the paint on the paint roller covers settles to the bottom of the receptacle and forms a sludge and residue which can contaminate the paint roller covers to such an extent that they are rendered unusable. Therefore, it can be appreciated that the manner in which the paint roller cover is stored and cared for in wet suspension is critical to extending the life of the paint roller cover.
An alternative and better means for overcoming the shortcomings of previously mentioned methods of preserving paint roller covers in wet storage and suspension is provided by an apparatus that utilizes a rack on which several easily removable paint roller covers are positioned for soaking and preserving in a liquid-filled receptacle. When the rack is installed in a receptacle filled with liquid, the paint roller covers are retained in spaced relationship with the receptacle walls and each other, thereby soaking and preserving the paint roller covers until they are ready for reuse. The use of such a rack eliminates the problems associated with other wet storage techniques and devices. Also, installation and removal of the paint roller covers so stored can be accomplished without having to touch the paint rollers with one's hand.
Other advantages of preserving paint roller covers in wet suspension with the apparatus that utilizes a support structure or rack of the type described include economical, cost saving, and prolonged use of paint roller covers; convenience; time saving and ecological advantages whereby minimal or no washing or rinsing is necessary from a faucet or hose, for instance, which conserves water.
The applications and advantages noted above are preferably accomplished by an apparatus that is convenient to use and simple to manufacture. A limited number of paint roller cover wet storage devices have been devised for a variety of applications, but not specifically for economically, conveniently and cost effectively soaking and storing several paint roller covers in wet suspension with the desired features and advantages that the mentioned apparatus utilizing the rack has. Several examples of prior attempts are discussed below.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,918,582 to Wallace shows a container for soaking and preserving paint brushes and paint roller covers. Wallace discloses a wire support placed in a specially designed container with a screw-fitted cap for supporting one or more paint roller covers and/or one or more paint brushes above a space designed for collecting paint sediment at the bottom of the container below the brushes and/or roller covers. Among the most notable disadvantages of the invention disclosed in Wallace is that there is no means provided for maintaining paint roller covers in spaced relationship with one another and with the interior surface of the container; paint roller covers placed inside the Wallace apparatus are free to contact and stick to one another and/or the interior surface of the container.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,766,603 and 2,704,931 to Zelkowitz disclose a cylindrical mandrel in a container for cleaning and storing paint roller fabric sleeves. The devices disclosed in these patents rely on specially designed containers having formed housings and chambers with cylindrical mandrels having diameters closely approximating the inner diameter of a paint roller cover. Also, U.S. Pat. No. 2,704,931 to Zelkowitz requires direct handling contact with the wet paint roller by hand in order to remove the paint roller sleeve from the container. In addition, the inventions disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,766,603 and in U.S. Pat. No. 2,704,93 do not permit a roller cover sleeve to be simply dropped over a post.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,334,416 to Turano shows a container for soaking and cleaning a paint roller sleeve which is fitted over a central post. The post has an enlarged foot for engaging the inside bottom of the receptacle so that the post is held stationary within the receptacle.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,852,833 to Lockwood shows a frame-like structure for holding paint brushes for cleaning when fitted into a paint bucket.
None of the Patents cited above discloses a means for maintaining two or more paint roller covers in spaced relationship with each other and with the interior surfaces of the container.
Accordingly, there is a great need for an apparatus that can conveniently and practically preserve several paint rollers in wet suspension in a receptacle at a low cost. Such a device therefore is preferably manufactured at a low cost and is simple to assemble and use.